Amnesia
by Faberrittanainthetardis
Summary: From a Tumblr prompt: Set in the future. Emily, Paige and Spencer are living in New York and have been for almost a year when Paige is in a car accident. She loses her memory and reverts back to her 15 year old self. Spencer is worried about visiting her. Spaily fic i.e. Spencer/Paige/Emily.
1. Chapter 1

"Spencer, are you ready?" Emily called quietly as she tapped lightly on the bedroom door. She waited for a beat but upon receiving no answer she opened the door and stepped inside. She wasn't surprised to find Spencer sitting on her bed, wrapped in a towel. "Visiting hours start in twenty minutes Spence."

Spencer shrugged silently, her gaze focused on the far wall.

Emily exhaled slowly, trying to be as patient as she possibly could under the circumstances. She walked over to Spencer and moved to kneel on the bed behind her. She carefully raked her fingers through Spencer's slightly tangled hair and found that it was mostly dry, indicating that she'd been out of the shower for a while. "Do you mind?"

Spencer shook her head and lifted the hand that was clutching her hairbrush.

Emily took it and silently began to brush through Spencer's hair, being careful not to tug too much. It wasn't the first time she'd done this with Spencer so she was aware that Spencer's hair tended to get quite knotted after it was washed because Spencer was always thorough, if not vigorous. She inhaled deeply through her nose, the scent of the strawberry vanilla conditioner Spencer used invading her nostrils.

"I don't think I should go." Spencer finally spoke after a few minutes, toying with the hem of the towel she'd wrapped around herself.

Emily paused in her light movements but quickly kept going. She couldn't say that she hadn't expected this. Spencer had already voiced concerns which Emily had tried her utmost to soothe. "Paige needs you there."

"Paige doesn't even know me." Spencer stated, turning slightly towards Emily. "I don't remember what my relationship with her was like at that age Em, what if she's right back to hating me? What if the past year means nothing?"

"Right now it does mean nothing to her." Emily said, setting the hairbrush aside for the moment. "We just have to help her remember."

"You're right." Spencer nodded reluctantly, though she still looked worried.

"It'll be okay." Emily lightly cupped Spencer's face in her hands and pressed a reassuring kiss to her lips, "She'll remember, she has to."

Spencer smiled weakly and turned away, trying to steel herself for what lay ahead.

**XXX**

"Spencer!" Paige looked immediately relieved when Spencer walked into the room with Emily trailing a couple of feet behind her, fiddling with something in her hands. "What are you doing here?"

"We um…we came to visit you." Spencer answered; slightly shocked by the enthusiastic answer she'd received.

"Come to finish me off so I can't kick your ass on the field?" Paige joked, a grin tugging at her lips.

Spencer laughed softly and shook her head. "You were never able to kick my ass, even when you cheated."

"Wait, you knew each other back then?" Emily asked, drawing Paige's attention towards her for the first time. Paige stiffened immediately but neither Spencer nor Emily seemed to notice.

"I told you, we played field hockey together for a while." Spencer answered casually. "We weren't at each other's throats _all_ of the time, just most of the time."

"That's good to know." Emily smirked, though her own nerves were tangible. She turned her attention back to Paige but faltered slightly when she found Paige staring at her suspiciously. Nevertheless she pressed on, inching forward. "I bought you some red grapes from the store down the hall, I remember you saying that you don't like the green ones."

"What are you doing here Fields?" Paige asked in a steely voice, her fingers digging into her palms. "Here to do Ali's dirty work for her?"

Emily blinked at Paige in surprise, taken aback by the tone of her voice. Paige hadn't talked to her like that since they'd competed for anchor position. "What?"

"Ali!" Paige repeated angrily. "Did she send you here as a way of mocking me?"

"Paige, I don't understand."

"Alison sent you to…"

"Paige." Spencer interrupted, quickly stepping towards Paige. She placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Calm down, Emily isn't here because of Alison."

Paige glanced briefly towards Spencer before she looked back to Emily. She softened at the sight of Emily swallowing back tears. She wasn't quite sure how she'd managed to cause the tears or why Emily cared enough to cry about what she thought of her but the fact that she had caused a sickening feeling of guilt to form in her stomach, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay." Emily smiled weakly but she turned away, hurriedly brushing at the tears on her cheeks.

Paige looked to Spencer for help, obviously unsure as to what to do in the situation she suddenly found herself in.

"She'll be fine." Spencer whispered, though she looked fairly worried herself. She waited until Emily looked up at her before she held out her hand.

Emily exhaled slowly before walking closer, gripping Spencer's hand.

Spencer could feel Emily's hand shaking slightly within her own and acting solely on instinct she lifted it to her lips and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles. Emily's eyes widened in surprise at the action and they both looked towards Paige at the same time. She looked curious, if somewhat pained by the action.

Clearing her throat, Paige shifted further up the bed, crossing her legs beneath the covers. "I hope you don't mind me asking but are you two…?" she motioned between them, leaving her question hanging.

"Um…sort of." Spencer answered, mentally kicking herself for outing them. It just came naturally for her to be affectionate with Emily in front of Paige and she hadn't thought twice about it. "It's complicated."

"It's not that complicated." Emily chimed in, not wanting to give Paige the wrong impression. "We are dating, it's just…not what you think."

"Sounds complicated," Paige said, her lips turning up into a sad smile for barely a fraction of a second. "Doesn't Ali have a problem with it?"

Emily and Spencer glanced at each other warily.

"What?" Paige asked, noticing the look. "What did I say?"

"Paige, there's a lot you don't remember." Emily asked, perching on the bed. "I thought your mom might have explained some of it to you when she dropped by yesterday."

"She didn't really say much." Paige mumbled, fiddling with the itchy hospital blanket. "She didn't stay for long either, she said something about work."

"Do you want us to tell you some things?" Spencer asked, releasing Emily's hand. She stepped back slightly to drag a chair close to the bed. "The doctor says we shouldn't tell you too much right away but it's okay for us to tell you a couple of things."

Paige nodded, eyeing the grapes Emily was still holding onto. "Can I have those? Hospital food is disgusting."

"Of course." Emily smiled, handing the bag of grapes over.

"Thanks." Paige said, opening the bag.

"First of all Ali doesn't dictate what we can and can't do anymore." Spencer started quietly, her eyes flicking briefly to Emily before she refocused on Paige. "She's changed, kind of."

Paige rolled her eyes. "I'll believe that when I see it. Which will hopefully be never."

Emily chuckled softly at the statement and shook her head. "She's living in L.A now, we don't see her much."

"Where are we?" Paige asked, realizing that she had no idea where in the country she actually was.

"New York." Spencer answered. "This is where you live."

"Right, because I'm 19 apparently." Paige stated quietly. "That's going to take some getting used to. Do you know where I live exactly?"

"You live with us." Emily answered awkwardly. "We sort of share an apartment."

"So we're friends?" Paige asked, obviously surprised by the news. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Emily managed a small smile. "We moved in together when we moved out of Rosewood."

"Oh." Paige looked confused. "Why?"

"Because we thought it would be better for all of us financially." Spencer said quickly. "And like Emily said, we're friends. It works well."

"Oh." Paige popped a grape into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "This is kind of giving me a headache."

"We should let you sleep." Spencer said, standing up from her seat. "The doctor says you need to get plenty of rest rest."

"Okay."

"We'll come back tomorrow." Emily promised as she followed Spencer's lead, getting to her feet. "Do you want us to bring anything?"

"Some clothes maybe?" Paige requested tentatively. "Maybe some decent food if you can smuggle it past my nurse."

"Sure." Emily moved forward and pressed her lips briefly to Paige's forehead. "If you need anything give us a call. We've given the nurse our number."

Paige could only nod in response, shocked by Emily's action as she watched the girl in question back off.

"We'll be back tomorrow." Spencer echoed Emily's earlier statement before she too dropped a kiss on the top of Paige's head. "Don't give your nurse too much trouble, she has the pain meds."

Paige smiled faintly and watched as Emily and Spencer left the room hand in hand.

THE END.


	2. Chapter 2

**A continuation of Amnesia as requested! Thank you for the reviews! :)**

Chapter 2

"EMILY?"

"Yeah, I'm coming Spencer!" Emily called as she closed the door behind her and walked through the apartment towards their bedroom. She dumped her jacket on the couch as she passed it only for it to end up falling onto the floor. Emily sighed in frustration but she continued on her way without pausing to pick it up. If she took too long Spencer would just start yelling again. She slipped into the bedroom and found Spencer standing in front of the closet with her hands on her hips and a distressed expression on her face. "What is it?"

"All of our clothes are in here." Spencer gestured wildly to the walk in closet she was standing in front of. "_Everything_ is in here."

"Of course all of our clothes are in there, it's a closet." Emily answered tiredly. It had been a long day and she didn't want to argue with Spencer over something as trivial as closet space. They had more important things they should be worrying about. She took a seat on the bed and leaned down to take her shoes off.

"We have _one_ closet." Spencer said, turning around to face Emily. "All three of us share _one_ closet."

"Well we're not exactly rolling in money Spencer."

"Exactly!" Spencer snapped irritably, "Paige's clothes are in our closet and we don't have another one to put them in!"

"Why would we even want to do that?"

Spencer threaded her fingers through her hair, frustrated by Emily's inability to see what the problem was. "Paige comes home from the hospital tomorrow afternoon Emily and she has no closet and nowhere to sleep. What are we supposed to tell her? Oh it's fine Paige, don't worry about it. Yes, we all sleep in the same bed but it's not weird at all, I'm sure you'll get used to it."

"Oh." Emily finally finished removing her shoes and stood up, walking over to Spencer. She gently moved Spencer's arms down before placing her hands on Spencer's shoulder's, gently kneading them. "Spence, you're stressing."

"Of course I'm stressing, she's going to freak out when she finds out that we're all dating. Don't you remember the way she acted when you first suggested it?"

"I remember." Emily confirmed thoughtfully, recalling the way Paige had worried that she wasn't enough for Emily. "We'll figure it out."

"How exactly are we going to figure it out?" Spencer asked, her logic telling her that there was no way they could.

"We'll go shopping tomorrow and we'll buy a new bed to put in the spare room." Emily said comfortingly. "You remember that we have one next door right?"

"But it with what?" Spencer sighed, relaxing slightly under Emily's hands. "Like you said, we're not exactly rolling in money. With Paige not working anymore one of us is going to have to juggle two jobs…and what about college? We can't afford…"

Emily silenced Spencer with a firm kiss, effectively shutting her up. "We'll get by. We always do. If we have to we can ask…"

"I'm not asking my parents for money." Spencer stated outright. Her relationship with her parents was still tense, even so long after they'd thrown her out. They'd managed to resolve some of their issues but there were some wounds that time would never heal.

"I know you won't, I was going to say we can ask _my_ parents." Emily said quietly. "They've offered before, we were just too proud to take it."

Spencer huffed out a sigh. She really didn't like depending on other people, financially or otherwise, "Fine, but only if we have to."

"Of course," Emily smiled softly and brushed her fingers over Spencer's slightly cheek. She fell silent for a moment, taking in the way Spencer's eyes fluttered closed in response to the touch. "What do you say we get into bed and I order some Chinese food?"

"I have to study for a test next week and I was with Paige all day today so I didn't have a chance to look over the chapters I have to read for Monday's cl…"

"Spencer." Emily interrupted firmly, her eyes worried. "You didn't sleep at all last night because you were up studying for this test. You're exhausted. Can you please just take it easy for _one night_?"

Spencer looked like she was going to protest for a moment but she finally gave an almost imperceptible nod. She'd worked all day the day before, studied all night and spent the majority of that day with Paige so she was likely to crash and burn anyway. "Okay, just for tonight."

"Good." Emily gave Spencer another quick kiss before she released her and walked over to the bed. Spencer wandered over and carelessly flopped down on top of the bed, groaning softly at the relief that surged through her limbs.

"I didn't realize how tired I was." She muttered into the sheets. Her fingers clutched around the familiar dark fabric she was lying on top of. "I didn't realize how big this bed was before either."

Emily noticed the hint of sadness in Spencer's voice and she leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I'll go into the kitchen to order the food, do you want anything in particular?"

"Just order the usual, wake me if I fall asleep okay Em?"

"Okay." Emily forced a small smile to her lips even though Spencer wasn't looking at her. Without waiting for a response she walked briskly out of the room and closed the door behind her. Her eyes glossed over with tears and she sank down onto the couch. Pushing the tears back she picked her jacket up from the floor and slipped her hand into the pocket to find her cell phone. She couldn't think about the fact that Paige didn't remember them as her girlfriends. She had to focus on one thing at a time, and right now that thing was ordering food because she hadn't eaten all day thanks to being at work, and neither, she suspected had Spencer.

XXX

"So you're saying that we all share one car?" Paige asked in confusion while focusing on not falling down the stairs she was being led up, "Because we're poor or something?"

"We're not poor we're just not financially stable at the minute." Spencer corrected tensely, her hands hovering near Paige's waist. Emily was walking backwards up the stairs, Paige's hands gripped in her own. Paige was still slightly shaky on her feet so they didn't want to risk her falling down the stairs and ending up right back in the hospital. The elevator was out of order as always.

"Plus we like sharing." Emily added with a small smile. "We share pretty much everything."

Spencer snickered despite the situation but tried to disguise it as a cough.

They finally reached the top of the stairs and Emily reluctantly released Paige's hands. They walked down the hallway until they got to the front door which Emily proceeded to unlock.

"I don't recognize any of this." Paige said awkwardly as she glanced around the hallway. Surely there should be something about the place she recognized if she'd lived there for the past few years.

"The doctor said it would take time." Spencer said gently, her hand grazing over Paige's back. "It could be a couple of months until you get your memory back fully."

Paige nodded though she fell silent, averting her gaze to the floor.

Emily finally succeeded in getting the door open but only after hitting it with her shoulder. She turned to Paige to see her watching in curiosity. "It gets stuck sometimes, we've been meaning to get it fixed but _someone_ keeps forgetting to talk to the landlord." She shot Spencer a light-hearted glare as she opened the door.

Spencer shrugged sheepishly. "I like that it gets stuck, it's harder for people to break in."

Paige smiled somewhat uncomfortably as she followed Emily into the apartment. She glanced around at the large room, trying to recall any memories. It was nice enough, just about the right size for three people, she supposed. It was pristinely neat, something she had expected due to the fact that Spencer lived there. She didn't see anything recognizable though, nor were any memories sparked.

Spencer shut the door behind them with a solid slam so that it closed properly and Paige jumped in surprise.

"I'm sorry." Spencer apologized quickly, looking mortified that she'd caused such a reaction so soon after getting Paige out of the hospital. "I really need to talk to the landlord about getting that fixed."

Embarrassed by how on edge she was Paige simply smiled weakly and looked back to Emily. She wasn't sure why but looking at the other girl always seemed to comfort her.

"Come on, we'll show you around." Emily offered her hand to Paige who took it after a moment of hesitation.

Spencer cursed under her breath, more than a little bit irritated with herself. Paige was recovering from a head injury and she'd decided to go around slamming doors. Very smart.

"This is the kitchen." Emily announced, gesturing to the kitchen to the left. "We tend to avoid going in there because we're not great at cooking."

"Speak for yourself." Spencer disagreed, slightly offended.

"Spencer likes to think that she's good at cooking but she's almost as bad as me." Emily lowered her voice to speak to Paige, earning herself a soft laugh. "And this is the living room where we spend most of our time…when we're at home that is. We're usually not. I'll explain that later."

Paige nodded in response, recalling that Spencer and Emily were both juggling work and college. Over the past few days they'd both visited her right after their shifts, still in their uniforms.

Emily pointed towards the bedroom to the right, a couple of metres behind the TV. "That's your room right there and that's our room to the left."

"So you got together before we moved into this place?" Paige asked thoughtfully, her gaze shifting briefly to Spencer.

"About a year before," Spencer confirmed, stepping forward until she was standing at Paige's other side. "The bathroom is right over there by the way." She pointed past Paige to the door on the far right wall. "It's pretty small but it works for us."

Paige nodded, struggling to take everything in. "I don't recognize anything. Are you sure I lived here?"

Spencer smiled softly at the question. "Of course you did, all of your stuff is here."

Paige looked around again before shaking her head. "I think I'm getting a headache."

"Do you want me to get your pills?"

"Maybe you should sit down!"

Both Spencer and Emily spoke up at the same time, their voices tinged with worry. Paige smiled and bashfully ducked her head as a warm glow spread through her chest. It was weird but nice to have someone who cared about her. "I think I just need to sit down for a minute."

Both Spencer and Emily helped Paige over to the house before they stood back and waited anxiously in case she needed anything else.

"I'm fine, really." Paige said, leaning back slightly. Neither Spencer nor Emily looked all that convinced. "I'll be fine."

"Are you hungry?" Emily asked, obviously needing something to do. "I can order in."

"We ordered in last night." Spencer pointed out in concern, her mind instantly going back to their financial situation.

"Do _you_ want to cook something?" Emily asked expectantly.

Spencer shook her head.

"Then we're ordering in. Chinese again?"

"Pizza." Spencer disagreed with a vehement shake of her head. "We had Chinese last night. Is pizza okay with you Paige? We can order something else if you want."

"Pizza is fine." Paige shook her head with a small smile. "Anything is better than hospital food."

"Pizza it is then!" Spencer announced, a little bit too enthusiastically. "I'm going to go and order it, I'll be right back."

Emily took a seat on the couch next to Paige while Spencer wandered off to find the menu. "How do you feel?"

"Sore." Paige answered honestly, "A little bit confused maybe. I don't remember any of this."

Emily's hand moved to Paige's knee and she gave it a comforting rub. "It'll get better with time. Spencer and I are here if you need anything."

Paige nodded just as Spencer plopped down onto the couch. She was surprised that rather than squeezing into the space near Emily and insisting that everyone move along Spencer had opted to sit next to her.

"The pizza is ordered, they remembered our usual."

"I think that's a sign that we order too much takeout Spence."

"You're always the one who suggests it."

Paige smiled at their light bickering but she couldn't shake the discomfort she felt.

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Spencer, have you seen my keys?" Emily called from the bedroom. "I'm sure I put them on the nightstand but I can't find them."

"I moved them to the key rack!" Spencer's voice sounded loudly from the bathroom. "You know, where they're supposed to be so they don't end up getting lost?"

"Since when do we have a key rack?"

"Since we moved in, you've just never used it."

Paige glanced back and forth between the bathroom and Emily and Spencer's bedroom as she pensively chewed her cereal. It was strange, going from her parents' house which was usually quiet in the morning to an apartment that was loud and quite chaotic. It had been a week or so since she'd moved in with Spencer and Emily and she still wasn't used to it. She watched as Emily walked out of the bedroom and headed towards the front door only to come to a stop before she could reach it.

"Spencer, my keys aren't on the rack! Those are your keys."

Spencer walked out of the bathroom, towel drying her hair. "Check under them."

Paige looked towards Spencer, and her spoon, which had been halfway to her mouth dropped from her fingers to land in the bowl, sending milk splashing over the side. The clang alerted Spencer who looked towards her in concern. Paige hurriedly clamped her hand over her eyes.

"Oh shit." Spencer hurriedly covered herself with her arms, realizing that she wasn't wearing a top, or a bra for that matter. "I'm sorry Paige, I completely forgot." She ducked back into the bathroom before peeking around the corner. She hadn't forgotten that Paige was there of course, it had just slipped her mind that it wasn't okay to walk around semi-dressed anymore. "I'm sorry, you can open your eyes now."

Paige slowly lowered her eyes and gave Spencer a confused smile. "I thought you said I'd lived with you since you moved in."

"You have, it's just that you don't usually mind when Spencer walks around without clothes on. You probably got used to it after a while." Emily answered, finally finding her keys under Spencer's on the rack. She slipped them into her pocket before she walked back towards the couch. Grabbing Spencer's coffee from the table she took a sneaky drink while Spencer was in the bathroom getting changed. "Spencer, do you remember that I have a double shift today?"

Spencer walked out of the bathroom, this time with a shirt on, just as Emily put the mostly empty cup back down on the table. "No, you didn't tell me."

"Oh…well I have a double shift today so I won't be back until late. Do you need the car for anything?"

Spencer shook her head, sinking onto the couch next to Paige. "I'm just going to study here today instead of going to the library."

"Okay." Emily leaned down and gave Spencer a lingering kiss. "I'll call you during my break."

"You better." Spencer mumbled against Emily lips.

Emily chuckled softly. "I love you."

"I love you too, now go or you're going to be late for class."

Emily stood up and glanced towards Paige, her smile slipping slightly. Not being able to kiss her before she left for work was nothing short of torturous, it was just something Emily had always done. Exhaling a soft breath she leaned down and kissed Paige on top of the head. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Em." Paige replied quietly, obviously finding the situation somewhat uncomfortable. Nevertheless Emily practically beamed at the use of the nickname as she headed towards the front door, grabbing her bag on the way.

Spencer reached for her coffee just as the door closed. She frowned at the small amount of coffee left at the bottom. Paige and failed to hold back a smile at the expression on Spencer's face. "She drank my coffee didn't she?"

Paige shrugged but she couldn't hold back a grin. "I didn't see a thing."

"Yeah, of course you didn't." Spencer shook her head in amusement and stood up from the couch to make another cup of coffee.

**XXX**

_2 weeks later._

Spencer woke up to a dark room, much to her confusion. Usually her sleep patterns were relatively normal and she could depend on her internal alarm clock to wake her up at dawn and not a moment earlier, unless of course there was something wrong. Spencer could feel Emily pressed against her back and she could feel the even breaths against her neck so she doubted it was anything to do with her. A quiet thud sounded from the living room and Spencer shot up into a sitting position, her eyes wide with alarm. The neighbourhood they lived in wasn't what could be referred to as rough but it wasn't the best either.

"Emily." Spencer reached back to give Emily's shoulder a firm shake. Emily merely groaned in response. "Em, wake up!"

"What is it?" Emily mumbled, clearly still half asleep.

"I heard a noise."

"It's probably just Paige." Emily grabbed the covers and tugged them over her head, not in the mood for Spencer's constant worrying. She had an early class in the morning followed by a shift at the diner. The last thing she needed was to be losing sleep. "Go back to sleep."

"When have you ever known Paige to get up in the middle of the night apart from when she's having nightmares?" Spencer asked logically. "She doesn't remember what she's supposed to be having nightmares about right now. Will you just wait for me while I check it out?"

Emily huffed out an annoyed sigh and threw the covers back. "If I'm late for class tomorrow I'm going to kill you."

"I'll make sure you get up." Spencer pressed a quick kiss to Emily's lips before she reached for the baseball bat she kept next to the bed.

"Really Spence?" Emily asked sceptically as she shifted into a sitting position.

Spencer shot Emily a glare before she got out of bed and crept towards the door, doing her best not to alert whoever was rustling around in the living room to her approach. She wanted to catch them off guard after all. Easing the door open she peeked out of the gap and instantly relaxed at the sight of Paige sitting on the couch, her head in her hands. Slightly confused Spencer lowered the bat and leaned it against the wall next to the door. Turning back to Emily she quickly explained. "It's just Paige. You can go back to sleep if you want, I'll see what's wrong."

Emily shook her head and got out of bed, grabbing Spencer's college hoodie from the floor. She tugged it on while Spencer waited for her rather impatiently near the door. Finally she managed to get it on and walked over to Spencer. They stepped out of the room together and Spencer shivered slightly at the cold. Emily had had the right idea when she'd decided to put Spencer's hoodie on.

"Paige?" Spencer spoke quietly so as not to startle the other girl. Paige looked up quickly, having not expected Emily and Spencer to be awake. "Are you okay? What are you doing up?"

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Paige asked sheepishly, trying not to stare at the barely dressed couple in front of her. "I thought I was being quiet."

"I'm a light sleeper." Spencer explained, walking over to the couch.

"A light sleeper who likes to wake me up for any reason she can find." Emily said testily as she plopped down on the couch next to Paige. She directed her next question towards Paige, her tone much gentler. "Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?"

Paige shook her head. "It's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?" Spencer asked, concerned by the vague response. The idea of Paige keeping something from them set her on edge at the best of times but now that they weren't as close as they used to be it was even worse.

"It's nothing, I just can't sleep." Paige answered, obviously embarrassed by her problem. "I haven't been able to sleep properly since I got back from the hospital. It's like there's something missing but I don't know what."

Spencer and Emily shared a knowing look.

"Maybe it's something I can't remember." Paige looked up, her eyes flicking hopefully between Spencer and Emily. "Do you know what it could be?"

Spencer shook her head while Emily replied quietly. "I have no idea, I'm sorry Paige."

"Oh…it's okay." Paige looked disappointed by the answer but she quickly turned her gaze back down to the floor.

Spencer glanced at Emily, raising an eyebrow. She was answered with a nod.

"Maybe it's because everything is still unfamiliar." Spencer suggested gently as she turned her attention back to Paige. "Maybe…if you want you can sleep with us."

Paige looked up in surprise. "A-are you serious? Won't that be weird since you and Emily are…you know, a couple?"

"Of course it won't be weird." Emily herself spoke up. "It's not like we haven't done it before, right Spence?"

"Right," Spencer agreed with a small nod. "Back when we moved in we only had one bed because…" she trailed off unsurely and Emily quickly finished for her.

"The bed wasn't delivered on time. So we slept in the same bed for about a week. It's not weird at all."

"Are you sure?" Paige asked apprehensively.

"Of course," Spencer stated without hesitation. "But I'm freezing so we should go to bed now. Someone decided to steal my hoodie."

Emily grinned, not looking sorry at all. "That's what you get for waking me up."

Emily and Spencer stood up and Paige automatically followed them, her stomach twisting apprehensively for a reason she couldn't quite comprehend.

When they reached the bedroom Spencer quickly got into bed while Emily took a moment to close the door behind them.

Paige hovered nervously near the foot of the bed, not entirely sure what to do with herself. She flinched in surprise when Emily's hand grazed over her lower back.

"Go ahead." Emily smiled softly when Paige looked towards her. "You always take the middle." It was a lie of course, or it was mostly a lie at least, Paige only took the middle when she was upset about something and needed the comfort. Usually that was Emily's place. Right now though, Emily thought that they could all use Paige being sandwiched between them.

Paige turned back to see Spencer patting the space next to her. Fighting back her reservations, Paige moved towards the bed and slid under the covers, turning onto her side. She watched as Emily pulled the hoodie she was wearing off and tried not to stare at the sliver of skin displayed to her when Emily's shirt rode up her abdomen. A moment later Emily got into the bed next to her, shifting around for warmth until she ended up a few centimetres from Paige.

Paige held her breath as she felt Spencer shift close to her back, an arm sliding around her waist.

"Breathe." Spencer instructed gently.

Paige obediently exhaled the breath and Emily smiled despite herself as it tickled her nose. Gradually Paige started to relax and after a few minutes she fell into an undisturbed sleep.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews, they're super appreciated! :)**

Chapter 4

"Paige, we have to tell you something."

Paige nervously looked up from her coffee to find Emily and Spencer standing in front of her, wearing equally concerned expressions. "Is there something wrong? Are you finally throwing me out?" she was aiming for a light tone but she must have failed, for Spencer frowned in response to the question.

"Why would you think that?"

"Oh, I was just…never mind." Paige shook her head slightly. "What did you want to talk about?"

Emily moved to take a seat next to Paige. "Hanna and Aria are coming over today, Aria called us to give us some warning this morning. We were wondering if you're okay with that."

Paige shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? They're _your_ friends."

"Well that's the thing." Spencer said, casting a quick glance at Emily. "They're your friends too now and we know that Hanna can be a bit full on sometimes."

"And they've been dying to see you since you got out of the hospital so we were wondering if you were up for it." Emily concluded, watching Paige's reaction carefully. She seemed to be taking the information in her stride but that could all change in an instant. "If you aren't you could always go out with one of us today."

"Um…" Paige glanced unsurely between Emily and Spencer.

"You really don't have to see them if you're not ready." Spencer said reassuringly. "We don't want to force you into doing anything you don't want to do."

"I think I'll be fine." Paige said warily. "I can stay here."

"Are you sure?" Emily asked carefully.

"I'm sure." Paige nodded in confirmation. The last thing she wanted was to seem like she was running from her 'old life', or at least what people claimed was her old life. "I have to remember eventually, don't I?"

Emily walked around the table and took a seat next to Paige. "You don't have to rush yourself. The doctor said it's not good for you. Some things will take time to come back and that's perfectly normal."

Paige nodded slowly, though she didn't quite meet Emily's eyes. "I actually have something I need to talk to you about. Something I need to ask you both."

Spencer and Emily shared a worried look before they turned their attention back to Paige.

"We're listening." Spencer said quietly, sliding into the seat across from Paige.

Paige swallowed heavily, her gaze shifting skittishly around the kitchen for a moment before she turned her attention back to Emily and Spencer. "You said that we've been friends for a while, right?"

Spencer and Emily both nodded.

"Well, I was wondering." Paige paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word what she was about to ask, "There's a lot I don't remember from before the accident and…there's some things…" she trailed off and bit her bottom lip, a soft sigh escaping her as she looked down.

"What?" Spencer asked, reaching across the table to grip Paige's hand. "What is it?"

Paige nervously licked her lips, her gaze shifting back to Spencer. "You know, it's not even important. It doesn't matter."

"Paige, if you have something to ask us you can." Emily said quickly, recognizing that Paige was about to back away from them, both physical and emotionally. "No matter how unimportant it seems."

"It's just…I have scars that aren't from the crash." Paige spoke awkwardly. "And I-I was just wondering if you know what they're from."

"We do." Spencer gave Paige's hand a soft squeeze. "We weren't with…" she faltered briefly when Emily gave a sharp cough. "I mean we weren't friends with you when you did this but you told us that you had problems with yourself, that Ali made you do this."

"Oh." Paige nodded slowly as if that made sense and tried her utmost to hold back the tears that threatened. The idea that they'd been self-inflicted had been what had instantly come to mind but she'd tried her utmost to ignore it. "I don't remember doing this."

Emily automatically leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Paige, hugging her tightly. "It was a long time ago. When Ali was…still around."

Paige nodded and briefly closed her eyes, allowing herself to take comfort from the combined sensations of Spencer holding her hand and Emily hugging her. "I thought about it sometimes, I just didn't think I would do it."

"Paige, none of us got out of Rosewood without scars." Emily said quietly as she drew back. "So don't think that you're weak because you have them."

Paige stared at Emily for a moment, surprised that she knew what she was thinking, but something else caught her attention. "What do you mean?"

"She means that Rosewood left its mark on all of us." Spencer stood up from her seat across the table and lifted her top to reveal a faint horizontal scar that stretched from the top of her ribs to the bottom, "Car crash." She moved her hand to her collar and pushed the hem of her shirt aside, exposing a long pink scar on her shoulder, "Lunatic number one." She moved her hand to hair and brushed it back to reveal another faint scar, "Lunatic number two. I have others but I don't want to overload you with information and Emily…"

"I have enough physical and emotional scars to last a lifetime." Emily interrupted with a sad smile. "We all do."

"I don't understand." Paige said, her brow furrowing slightly in confusion. "You got these from Rosewood? And lunatics? What do you mean by that?"

Emily opened her mouth to explain but she was cut off by a brisk knock at the door. "That can't be Hanna and Aria already…can it?" she asked, getting up to walk over to the door.

As cautious as ever, Spencer followed Emily to the door and waited impatiently until she opened it. Sure enough Hanna and Aria stood there, laden with bags. Upon seeing them Hanna dropped her bags and stepped forward, embracing Emily with an excited squeal.

Emily laughed at the exuberant greeting but she returned the hug nonetheless. "Hanna, it's only been three months since you last saw us."

"_Only_?" Hanna echoed in disbelief as she pulled back and moved to embrace Spencer who was just pulling away from Aria. "Three months is forever!"

"I agree with Hanna, it's been too long." Aria said, giving Emily a quick hug. "We should have come before now."

Hanna pulled away from Spencer and stepped past her without another word, causing her to roll her eyes. "Of course I'll get your bags Hanna, don't wo…wait, why do you even have bags?"

"Shopping…obviously." Hanna waved her hand dismissively as she walked over to Paige who had stood up to hover nervously next to the table. She hugged her wordlessly and Paige tensed for a moment before she unsurely returned the hug. She couldn't recall being close to Hanna but according to Emily and Spencer, she was friends with her. The hug lasted longer than she'd expected but just when she was starting to get uncomfortable Hanna pulled back to look at her.

"Are you doing okay?" Hanna spoke quietly and Paige was surprised to find that she actually sounded like she genuinely cared about the answer. "Really, I mean?"

Paige nodded in response. "You look…" she trailed off hesitantly, her eyes flicking up and down. She didn't notice Spencer and Emily's expressions darken slightly. "You look great."

Hanna laughed loudly at the statement. "I never get tired of hearing that."

Not a second later Aria stepped in, nudging Hanna slightly to the side. "Can I…?" she took a hesitant step forward towards Paige, awaiting permission to hug her. Paige nodded and Aria stepped forward, hugging Paige tightly.

Slightly confused but not exactly against the so called reunion Paige returned the hug, casting a quick glance at Spencer and Emily. They were muttering between themselves near the now closed front door and didn't seem to notice the look.

XXX

"Pink drinks?"

"Oh, it's like my code for drinks in gay bars…it's a long story." Hanna said nonchalantly. "Yeah, you used to buy me them all the time back then. We used to get into a heap of trouble after drinking them though."

"What kind of trouble?" Paige asked curiously, bracing her elbows on her knees as she leaned forward. "Legal trouble?"

"Not exactly," Hanna shook her head with a grin as she recalled the details of her run ins with people she'd met in the gay bars she used to frequent with Paige. "Everyone seemed to think that I was hitting on their girlfriends…"

"You did do that." Spencer piped up from the kitchen.

"That's beside the point." Hanna raised her voice slightly to respond to Spencer before she quietened again, focusing on Paige. "Anyway that got me into a few scrapes."

"Scrapes as in bar fights?" Paige asked in surprise.

"I didn't mean to get into them and you were pretty good at getting me _out_ of them." Hanna chuckled softly at the memory of Paige all but dragging her out of fights. "You and Em used to patch me up if I got hurt."

"So we _were_ friends back then?"

"Are you kidding?" Hanna asked with a shake of her head. "Of course we were friends, you even helped me with the whole coming out thing."

"I helped you come out?" not for the first time Paige looked unbelievably surprised, "Really?"

"Well…you helped me realize that I was bisexual." Hanna answered casually. "I was confused for a while until you stepped in."

"Hanna, stop bugging her." Emily said as she walked in from the kitchen and placed a protective hand on Paige's shoulder, "You're going to give her a headache if you heap much more information on her."

Paige shook her head, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "I'm fine Em, really."

"Well if she starts to annoy you, you can just tell her to shut up." Emily teased, glancing at Hanna. "That's what we do."

"Hey!" Hanna exclaimed, trying to sound more affronted than she felt. It didn't work and Emily merely shook her head as she walked back to Spencer and Aria, apparently to continue whatever they were discussing in hushed tones.

"Can I ask you something?" Paige asked softly as she shuffled close to Hanna on the couch. "About Spencer and Emily?"

"Will they yell at me if I answer?" Hanna asked, intrigued by the sudden need for secrecy, "Because if they will I definitely want you to ask me."

Paige cracked a small smile at that. "It's just…did I save their lives or something back in Rosewood?"

"Uh…" Hanna shook her head in confusion. "Why do you ask?"

Paige glanced over her shoulder and Spencer and Emily before she turned back to Hanna, lowering her voice. "I just mean…they're so nice to me and I don't really understand why so I figured I must have done something for them back then to make them want to be my friends."

"Paige, they're your friends because they like you, there's no other reason." Hanna answered carefully. "But there was that one time you pulled Emily out of the pool…and the time you saved Spencer from the psycho on the train. You were already friends back then though."

"Pulled Emily out of the pool?" Paige echoed in confusion. "Why would Emily need anyone to pull her out of a pool? She's a better swimmer than me. And why does everyone keep talking about psychos?"

"Um…" Hanna's gaze flicked nervously to Spencer and Emily. "Maybe you should ask them, I don't think it's my place to tell you about any of that stuff. They'll definitely yell at me."

Paige nodded, feeling bad for putting Hanna in that position. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Hanna said, placing her hand on Paige's knee. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

"You said that I helped you realize that you were bisexual." Paige said bashfully, "So does that mean you…um…"

"Liked you in that way?" Hanna finished while Paige blushed profusely. "No, no, no. Spencer and Emily would have killed me if I'd tried anything."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, um…" Hanna momentarily faltered. "I just mean because they're protective of you and they know I wasn't in a good enough place to be in a serious relationship and they didn't want me to hurt you."

Paige opened her mouth to reply but she was cut off by Spencer's voice.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Just catching up," Hanna smiled brightly as Spencer sank down onto the couch next to Paige. "I was telling Paige about when we were back in Rosewood?"

"What about Rosewood?" Spencer asked sharply.

"Nothing important, don't worry."

Hanna and Spencer shared a look that Paige didn't understand and she shifted uncomfortably between them.

"I'm just going to…" Paige stood up and gestured in the vicinity of the front door. "I'll be right back." Without waiting for a response she moved briskly towards the door and stepped outside. Closing it behind her she leaned against the wall next to it and closed her eyes. She could feel the onset of a headache but she couldn't stop the thoughts that whirled around her head. There was obviously something she didn't know, something Spencer and Emily weren't telling her, she just couldn't figure out what it was.

XXX

"Paige?"

Paige startled slightly at the whisper and looked up from the textbook she'd found under the coffee table. She hadn't been able to sleep so she'd wandered into the living room like she always did. Not wanting to wake Emily and Spencer up she'd decided not to switch the TV on and instead started to read through Spencer's law textbook.

"Emily." Paige looked up at Emily and quickly closed the textbook. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Emily shook her head. "I was already awake. You can't sleep again?"

"Not really." Paige answered, leaning forward to put the textbook back on the coffee table. "I thought I would just stay up for a while."

"Come to bed." Emily offered quietly. "Spencer's still asleep because she has class tomorrow morning but you know she won't mind."

"Do I?"

"What?"

"Nothing, never mind. I'm fine here, I don't want to disturb Spencer or anything." Paige answered, wrapping her arms around herself. It really was chilly at night in the apartment.

"You won't, come on." Emily stepped forward, holding out her hand. "Please? You need to get some sleep. I know you haven't been sleeping very well for the past few days and I'm worried about you."

Paige didn't even bother to ask how Emily knew that, it seemed that she was just able to read her like a book, something that unnerved Paige to some extent. She wavered for a moment before grasping Emily's hand, allowing her to tug her up from the couch. The force of the tug pulled Paige into Emily's body and she grasped her shoulder to make sure she didn't stumble back. Emily held form however, a small smile tugging at her lips. Paige's gaze was instantly drawn to Emily's lips but upon realizing what she was doing she looked back up. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Emily responded, obviously assuming that Paige was apologizing for bumping into her. "Come on. Let's get to bed, it's freezing in here."

Paige allowed Emily to tug her to the bedroom, putting the urge to kiss her down to what Hanna had been saying earlier affecting her somehow.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey." Emily called as she entered the apartment and closed the door behind her with some difficulty.

"Emily!" Paige exclaimed, obviously surprised that Emily was back so early. She quickly shut the laptop in front of her and turned to look at Emily. "You're back early; I thought you were working until five."

"It's after six." Emily answered, eyeing Paige suspiciously. She hung her jacket up next to the door and walked inside, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself up. "Isn't Spencer home yet?"

"No."

"Is something wrong?" Emily moved over to the couch and took a seat next to Paige. "You know that you can tell me if there's something wrong, don't you?"

"I'm fine Em." Paige's gaze flicked towards her laptop before she refocused on Emily. "I do have something to tell you though."

"Something to tell me?" Emily echoed in surprise. "What is it?"

"You and Spencer have both been incredibly sweet to me since I got out of the hospital…helping me remember things and all." Paige started, turning slightly towards Emily. She noticed a subtle swallow of nervousness from Emily and quickly continued. "And it's not that I don't appreciate everything you're doing for me because I really do, It's just that I feel like I'm getting in your way and..."

"You're not." Emily interrupted vehemently. "You know that Spencer and I love having you here, you've _always_ been here."

"I actually meant because I've been sleeping in your bed for over a week." Paige said awkwardly. "I was going to suggest that I move back into my own room so you guys can um…be alone?"

Emily looked confused for a moment before her expression cleared in realization. "Oh! You mean…Paige, you don't have to worry about that. Spencer and I find plenty of time for that kind of thing. You don't need to move back into your room…unless you're uncomfortable with us because of that?"

"I'm not!" Paige responded quickly, not wanting Emily to get the wrong idea. "It's not that, I just don't want to cause any problems between you. Even, you know…_that_ kind of problem."

"Paige." Emily reached out and gripped Paige's hand. "You don't cause any problems between us. The only thing that will cause problems for us is if you shut us out."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Emily confirmed sincerely. "My relationship with Spencer is fine, my sex life is _fine_. You have nothing to worry about."

Paige bashfully looked away for a moment before returning her gaze to Emily. "I have something else to ask you." Emily immediately looked apprehensive. "It's nothing bad, it's just something I'm curious about. It's about Hanna."

"About Hanna?" Emily echoed cautiously, "What about her?"

"I was just wondering…" Paige awkwardly hesitated for a brief moment, "Is she dating anyone at the minute?"

"Oh. Um…I don't…I mean…" Emily stumbled helplessly over her words, her wide gaze remaining fixed on Paige. She suddenly felt sick. Sick with jealousy. "Paige…" the sound of the door opening behind them cut off what she was saying. She turned to look at the door and found Spencer entering the apartment, her cheeks flushed from the cold.

"I'm back, did you guys miss me?" Spencer teased, shrugging her open coat off. She hung it next to Emily's and shut the door firmly behind her.

"Hey Spence," Paige offered up a small wave while Emily remained silent.

Spencer walked into the apartment and leaned down to greet Emily with a quick kiss. She was slightly surprised when Emily dodged out of the way and stood up quickly from the couch, heading towards the bedroom.

Spencer blinked in surprise, glancing at Paige. "What was that about?"

"Um…I don't know, she seemed okay a minute ago." Paige answered, clearly confused.

"I better go after her. Do you want to order out for dinner? I don't really want to cook tonight."

"Sure, Chinese?"

"Chinese it is." Spencer leaned over to kiss Paige on the cheek. "I'll be right back. And don't worry about Emily, she'll be fine."

Paige blushed slightly in response to the pressure of Spencer's lips against her skin but she nodded her head in agreement.

With one last fleeting look towards Paige, Spencer turned and walked quickly towards the bedroom. She stepped inside and found Emily sitting on the bed with her head in her hands.

"Em, what was that about?" Spencer asked, closing the door behind her. "Are you mad at me for something?"

"I'm sorry." Emily shook her head but she didn't look up at Spencer. "I just needed to get out of there. Paige said something and I just…I guess I freaked out a little."

"Freaked out?" Spencer stepped closer until she could perch on the bed next to Emily. "What did she say? Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Emily finally looked up. She exhaled slowly, rolling her eyes briefly skyward before she looked towards Spencer. "Did you ever think about what would happen if she hooked up with someone else?"

Spencer visibly flinched at the question. "Why are you asking me that?"

"She was asking me if Hanna's single!"

Spencer waited for a moment but Emily didn't add anything. "Is that it?"

"She's obviously attracted to Hanna, physically at least. And whenever Hanna comes by Paige spends practically the whole time talking to her. Or checking her out and…" Emily trailed off with a huff when she noticed the expression on Spencer's face. "You think I'm being paranoid."

"I don't Em, honestly." Spencer shuffled closer and cupped Emily's face in her hands. "I just think that you're worried. I'm worried too, about everything you just said. But you know that Hanna would never do that. She'd rather sell her shoe collection than hurt us like that, especially you. Plus, she has Caleb."

"I know." Emily reached up and lightly grasped Spencer's wrist. "I guess I just freaked out because it came after the sex thing and…"

"The sex thing?" Spencer suddenly looked intrigued and a little bit hopeful. "What sex thing?"

Emily laughed softly. "It's not what you think, Paige suggested that she move back into her own room because she thinks that by sleeping with us she's keeping us from having sex."

"Well that's just not true. She really just asked you that?" Spencer looked sceptical. "That doesn't seem like…this Paige."

"She kind of stuttered around the topic, I made the connection." Emily answered. "I told her that our sex life is fine and that she doesn't have to go back to her own room unless she's uncomfortable. I think she believed me."

"Good, I don't want her to sleep anywhere else." Spencer stated in relief. She regarded Emily for a moment. "There's something else isn't there?"

Emily nodded, her voice coming out slightly softer than before. "What if she's over us Spence? What if we never get our Paige back?"

"That's not going to happen." Spencer responded resolutely. She didn't even want to think about the possibility. "The doctors said that she would probably get all of her memories back eventually."

"Probably," Emily pointed out apprehensively, "That means she might not. She might always think of us as just being her friends."

"Em, you can't think like that. You'll drive yourself crazy."

"I know."

"Everything will be fine, I promise." Spencer leaned close and kissed Emily softly, her hand flitting to her cheek. "We will get our Paige back. It's just going to take some time because her brain has to heal. The doctor said so, remember?"

Emily nodded silently, trying to supress the worry she felt.

Spencer sighed and kissed Emily again. As much as she hated to admit it she was aware that there was nothing she could do to ease Emily's worries. "Come on, I told Paige we would order Chinese."

Emily nodded and stood up with Spencer. They walked out of the room to find Paige sitting in the same position, a slightly anxious look on her face.

"I'm going to grab the menu from the kitchen, I'll be right back." Spencer gave Emily a fleeting kiss before she headed towards the kitchen.

"A-are you okay?" Paige asked as Emily walked over to the couch and took a seat next to her.

Emily offered Paige a weak smile, "Yeah, of course."

"You're not, you're upset." Paige froze as the words left her mouth, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, you're right." Emily interrupted before Paige could continue with her apology. "I am upset."

"Oh." Paige frowned at the response. She was quickly beginning to learn that she really didn't like to see Emily and Spencer upset in any way. "Was it something I said?"

"No!" Emily lied quickly, "No, of course not."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Well there is one thing…"

"What is it?" Paige asked hopefully, "What can I do?"

"You can get your ass over here and give me a hug." Emily smiled softly, though she couldn't hide the hint of nervousness in her voice, "If you don't mind."

Paige smiled at the request. "I can do that." She maneuvered herself closer to Emily on the couch and opened her arms. Emily moved into them without hesitation, hugging Paige tightly.

"Thank you." She murmured softly against Paige's shoulder.

Paige nodded, hugging Emily tighter.

"Hey, I'm sorry to interrupt." Spencer's voice floated over to them, causing them to pull away from the embrace. Spencer smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Do you both want me to order the usual?"

"Of course." Emily answered while Paige nodded in response.

"Okay…carry on with the hugging." Spencer waved her hand at Paige and Emily.

Paige laughed softly while Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh hey, before I forget…I'm going out tomorrow."

"Going out?" Spencer looked confused, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to hang out with Hanna." Paige answered brightly, "I called her when you were talking in the bedroom."

"Oh." Spencer stared at Paige for a moment before she looked over at Emily who was wearing a look she was sure matched her own. Jealousy. "Okay, I'm going to order this. I'll be right back."

"Did I say something wrong again?" Paige frowned as she watched Spencer move further into the kitchen, her shoulders slightly slumped.

Emily shook her head and offered a small smile. "You know Spencer, she likes to make sure that things are done as soon as possible, even if that thing is just ordering Chinese."

Paige nodded but she wasn't convinced.

XXX

"Paige!" Hanna greeted Paige as exuberantly as always when she opened the door, throwing her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Hey Hanna," Paige awkwardly returned the hug, patting Hanna on the back.

Hanna pulled back, sensing Paige's discomfort but beckoned her inside. She noticed that there was no car parked in the driveway. "How did you get here?"

"I took the bus." Paige answered, taking her jacket off.

"The _bus_?" Hanna looked appalled by Paige's answer, "Why would you do that? I mean I know you can't drive but why didn't Emily or Spencer drop you off?"

Paige shrugged, "I didn't want to bother them. We kind of got into an argument about it this morning."

Hanna rolled her eyes and shut the door behind Paige before leading her towards the small living room, "Paige…Caleb." She motioned towards Caleb who was slumped down on the couch, his feet on the coffee table and his laptop on his lap.

He looked up at Hanna's words however and quickly straightened his posture. "Hey!"

"Um…hey," Paige offered an unsure wave.

"Right, you don't remember me." Caleb shook his head as if he'd completely forgotten about that fact. "Sorry, it's just…weird."

"You guys were like BFF's." Hanna explained, taking a seat on the couch next to Caleb. "So what were you saying about arguing with Emily and Spencer?"

Paige was slightly distracted by the news that she was apparently friends with this man she didn't know, "Oh. Um…they wanted to drive me. I thought I should take the bus."

"Yeah but why?" Hanna questioned impatiently, "Why would you think you should take the bus?"

Paige took a seat on the chair near the couch. "I didn't want to bother them. They already do enough for me without having to drive me around."

"Maybe they do all of those things because they want to." Hanna pointed out, "Maybe you should just let them.

Paige gave a weak shrug of her shoulders, "I was actually hoping that you could tell me some things about my past. About Rosewood. Emily and Spencer just avoid my questions when I ask them."

Hanna and Caleb shared a wary look. The last thing they wanted was to tell Paige things that Emily and Spencer didn't want her to know.

"Okay, shoot." Hanna finally said, steeling herself for the questions. "What do you want to know?"

"I Googled Rosewood…after what Emily and Spencer said about psychos I wanted to know what had happened to them." Paige admitted sheepishly, "I didn't really find any answers, just more questions."

"Paige, I don't think you should be messing around with that stuff." Hanna said reluctantly. "A lot of bad things happened to all of us in Rosewood, especially to Emily."

"Especially to Emily _how_?" Paige persisted in concern, "Nobody will tell me what happened. I read that she killed some guy and I was there for some reason but I couldn't find anything else."

"That's probably for the best." Hanna leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. "Look Paige…Emily and Spencer get upset about this stuff, that's probably why they won't talk to you about it."

"I guess you're right." Paige mumbled.

"I'm always right." Hanna smirked, "Now how about you tell me what you're doing here? I happen to know that today is one of the rare days Emily and Spencer both have off from work and college."

Paige flushed slightly at the gently accusatory tone of Hanna's voice. "I didn't…um…I thought that they should have some time alone. You know, to act like a couple without me getting in their way."

"You're not in their way." Hanna rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the statement, "Seriously Paige, they love you."

Caleb coughed sharply, earning himself a curious look from Paige.

Hanna ignored Caleb's protest, focusing intently on Paige. "They would go crazy if you weren't there, you have to trust me on this. Have you asked them about it? They'll tell you exactly the same thing."

Paige gave a sheepish shrug. "I haven't exactly asked them but I've dropped some hints. They keep telling me the same thing."

"They're not lying, trust me. Ask them again, ask them directly and they'll tell you the same thing."

Paige nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe…"

"Hey I actually have a couple of questions for you." Caleb sat up straighter, moving his laptop onto the coffee table.

Paige looked up at him, slightly confused. "Okay."

"Which Harry Potter movie did you watch last?"

"Um…Order of the Phoenix." Paige answered, slightly confused by the question. "Why?"

"Bear with me for a minute." Caleb grinned, "And you haven't played Resident Evil 6 or GTA5 yet, right?"

Paige shook her head and Hanna groaned. "You guys aren't playing video games right now, you always ignore me when you do."

"We do?" Paige asked, obviously baffled.

"This is gonna be awesome." Caleb stood up from the couch and moved over to where the DVDs and video games were kept. Something caught his attention and he stopped short. "Wait…what about Game of Thrones?"

"Game of what?"

"I think we found a positive." Caleb smirked, grabbing his Game of Thrones boxset, "Han, do we have any popcorn?"

"In the cupboard, you know where we keep it." Hanna raised an eyebrow at Caleb and he heaved a sigh.

"Fine, I'm going."

XXX

Paige slipped into the apartment to find Emily and Spencer on the couch. Emily's head was resting on Spencer's chest and there was some kind of horror movie playing on the TV. Spencer looked up at the sound of the door opening but Emily didn't budge.

"Hey." Paige greeted quietly as she peeled her jacket off.

Spencer offered her a small smile. "There's some leftover lasagne in the oven if you want it."

Paige shook her head and took a small step forward. "I was actually hoping to talk to you both." She glanced at Emily. "Is Em asleep?"

"I'm awake." Emily herself answered, though she sounded groggy, like she'd been on the verge of sleep. She sat up, stretching her stiff limbs.

Paige walked in front of them and perched on the edge of the small coffee table. "I'm sorry about what happened this morning. I should have let you drive me to Hanna's house."

"Why didn't you?" Spencer asked quietly. "We know it's not because you wanted some air, we're not stupid."

"I-I guess I just feel like I'm bothering you." Paige stumbled over her words. "Not because of anything you've said or done, it's just that…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Just that what?" Emily leaned forward to grip Paige's hand. "What is it Paige? We can't help if you don't tell us what's going on."

"Nobody's ever really cared as much as you do." Paige glanced apprehensively between Emily and Spencer, trying to quell her discomfort. She owed them an explanation for her behaviour, she couldn't just stop. "I guess I'm afraid that I'm going to become a nuisance and I'll lose you both."

Spencer watched as Paige's cheeks tinged pink and she knew instinctively that Paige was embarrassed by the way she'd phrased that. She reached out and slipped her hand into Paige's, giving it a light squeeze. "You're not going to lose us. You're stuck with us no matter what, got it?"

Paige smiled softly, "Thanks Spence."

"We're going to hug you now." Emily warned, a grin tugging at her lips. "Okay?"

"Okay." Paige nodded her consent and both Emily and Spencer leaned forward to hug her tightly.

Paige closed her eyes, hugging them back and tried to push back her rising emotions. She didn't know what it was she was feeling for Emily and Spencer but she would just have to ignore it. There was nothing else she could do.

TBC.


End file.
